Artist of the week

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

#CLOSEUP with SLOW MAGIC

He defines himself as a "indefinite imaginary friend who likes to play music". But who is Slow Magic? Unfortunately we can not answer to that, we can only say that the man beyond the mask (of unidentified nationality) has a way of doing good and calm totally different from when he's on stage: full of energy and charge. Controversial character of the new indie music scene, with his rarefied and tribal sounds has managed to charm thousands of people all around the world. We met and interviewed him exclusively for IWM before his gig at Circolo Degli Artisti in Rome, to talk of his last album and more.

-So, how's the European tour going so far?

It's been pretty good, it's about two weeks that i've been travelling so i'm a little tired, but not two tired (laughs, author's note)

-It's your first time here in Italy?

No it's not my first time, i've been here already a couple. It's my second time in Rome and i really enjoy being here.

-Let's talk about “Slow Magic” project, you once said that it's like “an unknown imaginary friend that likes to play music”. What did you mean with that?

Well when i started the project i just wanted it to be something separated by an identity so that it could be something that is just music or art on its own. I really liked the idea of an imaginary friend who was just not really existing anywhere, and that could be anyone making that stuff that we all can share i guess.

-There's all of this mistery wrapped around your figure, nobody knows who you are. If you had to describe yourself, the guy behind the mask, how would you do it?

I don't know, it's kind of hard to describe someone that's imaginary i guess (laughs again, author's note). I don't want the project to be impersonal, i personally i want to make music and art that share what i think is beautiful in the world. I guess that's the personal part of it, like things from my life.

-So do you transmit something of yourself in your music?

Yeah definitely, i think a lot of anyone's personal life, who they are and stuff comes out in their art if they're doing something right. But i think it's more important for me to people to listen what i'm making and try to figure out who i am through that or meet someday and find out what i look like (smiles, author's note).

-Talking about your Mask, we're all trying to figure out.. What sort of animal is it?

Yeah basically it's like an imaginary animal too, so many people try to guess they often say that looks like a wolf, a fox, even a zebra. It all started out when i was designing it with a friend of mine and it wanted that to look like a colourful animal different from any other, and it came out like this.

-So you were involved in the painting?

Not in the actual painting, that was made by a friend of mine, an excellent painter (Jonas McCluggage, you can find him here: http://25mph.deviantart.com) who made the original mask's design.

I decided that looking at the atwork of the album (three kids on a beach) and i wanted the title to be not exactly a word, so i came up with “Triangle”. No meaning really more than that.

-I was wondering if there was a symbolic relation between this title and the names of two tracks: “Circle” and “Moon”.

Yeah it's kind of the same idea, i wanted to push the bounderies of what you're or not allowed to do. I also realized that togheter could appear as a full moon so i put them next to each other in the album.

-Is there something tribal, almost mystical, in your music?

I'm interested in so many music coming from other cultures, some percussion things and i really enjoy studying different kinds of sound like chinese and indian percussion and things that i find out on records.

-The last track of the album is called “Music”, what does music mean to you?

I think it's one of the most important things in my life, it's what allows me to share who i am with other people, so that i can give them something important and if it changes someone, inspires someone or simply can make their night better that's the best thing i can do.

-Do you have any favourite musicians and bands?

Yeah well recently i've been to Iceland, there's so much amazing music coming from there. I also really like the band Kings Of Convenience, they do some very good stuff.